Today we arrived in our last official state of the tour, New Hampshire (though many of us are continuing onto Maine), and we were all excited as we could smell the Atlantic Ocean in the air… or was that the rain coming all afternoon? Rain rain go away, come back in just a few days! We got soaked! Today had the most difficult climbs, with some of them reading on a Garm
in at between 18 and 22 percent grade – I didn’t even know my bike could make it over those grades and it hardly did J It was nice to have a challenge on the last full day on the tour. We were greeted by rain all afternoon and arrived in New Hampshire totally soaked, though our spirits were high. Many riders’ relatives and friends arrived, since we were having our last supper together. We enjoyed lots of conversation and lots of congratulations from everyone. Sue even received flowers from a good friend of hers – how sweet! And Gary had bottles of wine delivered from his winery in California – that was a special treat.
Our evening was long and we didn’t get in bed until almost 11pm! We had a special video presentation of our ride across that country that Gerard, our mechanic and tour leader and great photographer, put together. He is going to do a full DVD for us all and send it out later. It was fun to watch and think of the memories in the different parts of the country. We also were pr
esented with funny gifts – I was given BUBBLES for my bubbly personality. We each had a chance to say a few words and there were many laughs, many thanks, and many tears. This would be our last night together and we all felt the excitement of almost accomplishing such a huge feat and also the sadness of the reality that all 40 of us will never be in the same room again together. What an experience this has been! A
mazing!
in at between 18 and 22 percent grade – I didn’t even know my bike could make it over those grades and it hardly did J It was nice to have a challenge on the last full day on the tour. We were greeted by rain all afternoon and arrived in New Hampshire totally soaked, though our spirits were high. Many riders’ relatives and friends arrived, since we were having our last supper together. We enjoyed lots of conversation and lots of congratulations from everyone. Sue even received flowers from a good friend of hers – how sweet! And Gary had bottles of wine delivered from his winery in California – that was a special treat.
Our evening was long and we didn’t get in bed until almost 11pm! We had a special video presentation of our ride across that country that Gerard, our mechanic and tour leader and great photographer, put together. He is going to do a full DVD for us all and send it out later. It was fun to watch and think of the memories in the different parts of the country. We also were pr
esented with funny gifts – I was given BUBBLES for my bubbly personality. We each had a chance to say a few words and there were many laughs, many thanks, and many tears. This would be our last night together and we all felt the excitement of almost accomplishing such a huge feat and also the sadness of the reality that all 40 of us will never be in the same room again together. What an experience this has been! A
mazing!Pictured to the right: Michelle and Andy, our head tour leaders - they were incredible!
3 comments:
I am so glad that everyone's last night together was so enjoyable. You all have accomplished so much and made ever-lasting memories. I am so excited for you.
xoxoxoxox
This comment is a lot late, but you have just done a fantastic job of blogging. Please tell me where you get the energy to ride 100 miles and then write and upload pictures. Wish I had half of your energy. You go, girl!
Congratulations, Audrey! YOU DID IT!!!
Love, Denise
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